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StarQuest Online: Player Crews and Interview
MMORPG.com StarQuest Online Correspondent Allen Richardson recently spoke with the developers of StarQuest Online, asking them about the game's graphics, gameplay elements and more.
Amid a flurry of almost non-existent hype, StarQuest Online launched on September 21, 2007. People had never heard of it, and comments of "This looks like something I could play on my Armstrad 464" were rampant. No one had ever heard of CastleThorn Software. Now, almost a year and four months later, the game is pretty much in the same boat. The graphics have improved drastically, but are still not DX10 material or even close. So what does the game have fully in its favor.
Player crews are something that is scarce in MMOs, and it’s not looking like that’s going to change. I have played SQO for over two years, plenty of time to see the good and the bad of the issue. It has been mentioned that not all players like grouping. SQO does not force you to have a bunch of players on a ship to run it. You can run a ship solo. Others were worried about their tactical officer running off to get a drink during a firefight leaving them high and dry. The answer here is in the class system. Or rather, the lack of it. In SQO, your skills determine your class. Your class does not determine your skills. If your tactical officer stops responding, order someone else there or go do it yourself. SQO's player crews work because the players are not forced to use them. Some others are worried about what would you do while your station was not in use? Say you’re docked at a station, what is there for the helm officer to do? Actually, there is no problem here since the SQO devs didn't take any shortcuts. The ships are fully explorable, you can go to any nook and cranny in them you want to. Anything you can do on a planet, you can do on a ship, not counting harvesting resources. There are things the ships have that even planets do not, such as science labs where you can make chemicals that were never seen before in-game. That said, if you are in an active environment, there is very little time when you are just waiting. Hyperspace is something else entirely, and you most likely will be inactive, but there is no need to be manning the stations in hyperspace. Go have a ball doing something like playing tag with disrupters.
I got a chance to talk to two of the developers, team leader Bardon Thorn and software programmer Durango Montana. While this is not a official interview by mmorpg.com, I tried to ask questions about things people are interested in. Maybe next time we can get someone higher up on the payscale to ask the questions.
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| AR: | Player crews has been considered a shaky proposition at best in space MMO's, why did CTS decide to use this mechanic? |
| Durango Montana: | At the time we started this project, no one had done anything besides the "play as a ship" concept. I don't think there's anything "shaky" about the concept. The only people who are saying that it is are those making excuses for those who are taking the easy way out. Think about it, with a non-player crew approach they don't have to model much of anything for ship interiors, besides maybe key areas like the bridge. Building every deck of every starship is a huge amount of work they don't have to do before they release their game. And yes, that is the real reason, despite any other comments they have floated to the contrary. |
| AR: | Have you ever had thoughts of taking player crews out of the game to make it more playable for the casual players? |
| Durango Montana: | No, that will not happen. The second "M" in MMORPG stands for multi-player. |
| AR: | You don't seem to be advertising the game, beyond my writing there seems to be very little about StarQuest on the internet. From what I have seen on the forums, this game has a lot of potential, and you are planning a lot of great additions to the game. Wouldn't you have a bigger playerbase if you hyped those additions more? |
| Durango Montana: | There are two reasons for this: 1, money and 2, money. In actuality, we have tried this a few times. At the level we've been able to do it, it is simply not cost effective to spend $100 to get a single $9.99 subscriber. That's how the math has worked out. |
| AR: | While I have been able to successfully play solo, it isn't as "fast paced" as it would be if I joined Fleet or another group. Is there any plans to expand the solo side of the game? There is bounty hunting in-game right now, but it seems kind of lacking compared to the rest of the game. |
| Durango Montana: | We're always ready to make improvements to make things more fun and interesting for everyone, but remember the second "M." |
| AR: | You mentioned that you plan on making other races playable. As much as I enjoy being one of the 3 upstanding races of the United Systems Alliance, I'm one of those used to playing one of the "bad" races. Any update on those other races being made available to players? |
| Durango Montana: | The Klinshayan race will be in general release very soon. That's all I can say right now. |
| AR: | Is there anything different about the Klinshayans other than their color? What would make them more appealing to play? |
| Bardon Thorn: | Klinshaya have a completely different back story and goals than the mainstream Alliance players, and are less technologically advanced. Therefore it is more of a challenge to succeed in the Klinshaya Empire than it is in the Alliance. There are no civilians in the Klinshayan faction, so I guess you could say the Klinshaya are more "group focused". |
| AR: | StarQuest is pretty much PvP only right now, with a little PvP&E. While this is great for a PvP nerd like me, PvP only is a little hard on the semi-casual players. Are admins planning on adding PvE of some type?" |
| Bardon Thorn: | We have some PVE already, and we intend to keep adding more and more. However, as Durango said, this is a multiplayer game, and PVP will remain a strong focus. |
| AR: | Everything in StarQuest is player owned, but the player market is hard to use, almost non-existent. Is there something being done about this? |
| Bardon Thorn: | A new market system is under development to address this concern, making it both easier for players to use and giving players new avenues of play to explore. |
| AR: | Player owned colonies in sci-fi are as new as player owned cities are in ground-based games. Right now its pretty much just dropping a charter, adding all the resources and orbitals, and watching it grow. Is there any plans in expanding this? The game is huge right now, but I could see people in the future playing the civilian side just for colonies. I guess I'm almost looking for a "Civ 4" in space. |
| Bardon Thorn: | Yes, there are a number of plans in the works for expanding colonies: scientific research, relocating or transferring of colonists, conquest or liberation of colonies, rebellions, and a few other things. Allen: The number of ship types is much smaller than those of other games. Same with ship customization, every Fleet ship has blue carpet. |
| AR: | Any plans to expand in this area? |
| Bardon Thorn: | We have already allowed players to upload textures for some items such as signs and artwork, changing the appearance of starships would require something similar. This is something that may happen down the road if some technical issues can be resolved. |
| AR: | The graphics of StarQuest are not close to what most MMOs are coming out with, Age of Conan for example. I think most people take one look and never try SQO. What was the thinking behind not making the game with a more advanced graphics engine? |
| Bardon Thorn: | There is nothing 'simple' about our graphics engine, it does things no other MMO has ever attempted to do, such as make it possible to see your character sitting in a shuttlecraft, inside the hangar of another ship, while scanning the surface of a planet and monitoring the activities of another player on that planet. Are other games more detailed in their worlds? Yes, but none of them are comparable to the size of the UNIVERSE SQO depicts. |
| AR: | For my last question, what made a group of programmers try to start a MMO project of this size? I mean, nothing this scale has ever been completed that I can see. |
| Bardon Thorn: | Because we're all crazy ! Seriously though, this is the game we always wanted to play. Since it didn't exist, we decided to make it ourselves. |
From where I stand, the game looks as good as it needs to. The playbase is growing larger by the day, it only seems empty because it is so huge. You can have 1,000 players online and not know it due to them being spread out over large distances. The in-game chat is rarely used, but serviceable. The game is mechanically sound, it has technology that would make mosts jaws drop in awe. 64-bit was already supported before we even had a mainstream 64 bit processor. Where it lacks in graphics, it makes up in roleplay. No instances, or limits, the game is open sandbox. It may not be the game of your dreams now, but keep a eye on it. Given its progress in the last year, nothing will compare within the next.
Very cool. It’s good to see that smaller companies are still able to take risks, and make a profit.
They love their game.
And not only them
Awesome interview
OK so i decided to have a look, with very low expectations. But even so, i didnt last 5 minutes. I'm sorry. The graphics are like 20 years old, even though i expected the worse, I wasn't prepared for what I got lol.
Its a shame, the online manual made the game sound cool. Perhaps just not for me. Others may enjoy the retro experience.
The manual didn't mae the game "sound cool" the manual tells you the fact that it is "cool".
That's a shame about your experience because I did the same but after a few more days of looking around the net for a game similar (playing inside a ship) I found nothing and thought that I should give it a "real" go. I got on a ship with a really nice crew and found everytime I logged in I would discover something new, that was about 9 months ago and I am still finding things now!
There is nothing like this game and there will not be for a long time (I know what game you "might" try and suggest but it isn't going to be close to this one for a while)
Yes this is a game for a certain type of player but when those players find this game they stay, I have wanted this game ever since playing elite. The game is on it's way to full on "nothing is impossible" greatness. If you don't like it first time round try again in say 3 months, it is constantly getting better!
As for graphics, companies have gotten away with graphics over DEEP gameplay for a loooong time, I can make an anology to modern day "popcorn munching eye candy" films that we get given by hollywood, They are fun for an hour and a half but you wont remember them in a few years time!
So, If you read this, give it another go (although if the graphics really do mean that much to you then I'm not sure how you will get on in a game like this), This game is very deep and has a steep learning curve, those who are willing to put the effort in and are also sick of the usual "semi-multiplayer" gameplay that we see "stuck-on" to some modern eye candy graphics should try the game and give it MORE than a few days and try to find your "niche" within it. Once you do you will feel spoilt and wonder why more developers don't have the balls to make games like these!
Warning: If you play for graphics, don't even try this game
If you play for immersion, you've found a new home in SQO.
"From where I stand, the game looks as good as it needs to."
-Bardon Thorn
You really need to try standing somewhere else.
That wasn't part of the interview, that was my summary.
The graphics are horrible compared to todays uninnovative standard, personally I don't need nice graphics. I'm perfectly happy to play a game with 5 year old graphics. Now, if there was any other game that could do near this, with better graphics, I would switch.
But seriously, from a programmers standpoint, you can't set the graphics much higher at all before it starts consuming enormous amounts of memory.
Technology doesn't exist currently that could handle the map-in-map architecture required at a DX10 Standard setting.
Now it could be upped to DX9 Standard, but then you would have to have dual graphics cards and at least 4 gig of RAM to play it. -Which is not smart from a marketing point of view-
Thanks for correcting me on that! I'm relieved to hear it actually. Got the flow of converation screwed up. Pardon me for my misinterpretation.
I'm perfectly happy to play a game with 5 year old graphics too...as long as I have the hope that they will improve over time. Part of the joy is watching things improve.
The graphics in SQO must be balanced with it's vast size, that is understood. DX10 or DX9, it doesn't matter. Nobody's expecting those kind of settings neccessarily.
Part of the intrigue of this game is looking out into space and "wondering what's out there". Even though I haven't travelled extensively I can tell you: Not Much. Exploration of the unknown was a major draw for me. It 's been a disappointment too.
Fantastic things could be done with textures and imagery at the same grade as uploadable images. ... Anything is better than nothing. What good is a vast universe when there's nothing interesting to see?
Anyway, I'm glad those were your words instead of the developers!
"Part of the intrigue of this game is looking out into space and "wondering what's out there". Even though I haven't travelled extensively I can tell you: Not Much. Exploration of the unknown was a major draw for me. It 's been a disappointment too."
-----In StarQuest?
I'll have to check, but I think at last count there was around 17,000 objects, of which 16% has been found. Of course thats not even one object per sector........
That wasn't part of the interview, that was my summary.
The graphics are horrible compared to todays uninnovative standard, personally I don't need nice graphics. I'm perfectly happy to play a game with 5 year old graphics. Now, if there was any other game that could do near this, with better graphics, I would switch.
But seriously, from a programmers standpoint, you can't set the graphics much higher at all before it starts consuming enormous amounts of memory.
Technology doesn't exist currently that could handle the map-in-map architecture required at a DX10 Standard setting.
Now it could be upped to DX9 Standard, but then you would have to have dual graphics cards and at least 4 gig of RAM to play it. -Which is not smart from a marketing point of view-
First off, I like the game, despite the graphics it has trememdous possibilities for immersion as mentioned by others above.
As to upgrading the graphics, sorry nothing worse than a huge exaggeration. If you don't understand game programming then don't comment on it and make yourself look foolish. If the staff had the skills they could easily put this in DX9 or 10 with far less memory usage.
It all comes down to how much time they want to put into it. Upgraded graphics would take a lot more coding time then they have put into the game up to this point, so it would exclude them from adding content for quite some time. I don't think they want to do that.
Personally the game is fine as it is.
.........If you don't understand game programming then don't comment on it and make yourself look foolish. .........
Personally the game is fine as it is.
Lol......... I'm sorry, I was just trying to dumb it down so people who aren't coders could understand it.
Basically, the map in map architecture means you are loading up to 5 maps at once. If those were increased to use bump maps and all the shaders that DX9 and DX10 use, you would have to have a mega pc to run it.
Even at DX9, it would require about the same amount of memory as AOC on high setting.
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But your right, anything is possible given time. SQO will be getting DX9 or 11 in a few years if the population keeps going up.
DX10 is a waste of programming actually.......
The emphasis of the developers on that second "M" in MMORPG is going to be the death knell for any game like this. Even for people who especially enjoy the communal aspects of an MMO, not having also large amounts of soloable content is a major tactical error, in my opinion. Once I read that, I lost all interest in SQO.
Not including substantial amounts of solo content, to cover those times a player doesn't feel like grouping, is just really really dumb.
You can do anything solo'ing that a group can do. It just takes a little longer.
PvP is the only thing that you can't do alone.
The richest person in game (by a very large margin) is a solo'er by the name of Riddick.